How the Lethal Ladies of Fox Searchlight’s "Step" Documentary Hope to Change the Beauty Industry

See the Lethal Ladies of Step in motion, and you can’t help but be utterly mesmerized by the group’s A) innate sense of rhythm and B) overwhelming, practically tangible passion for movement and making waves that binds them together as sisters. It's these two core traits that have given each one of the Lethal Ladies, the talented high school step group starring in Fox Searchlight's new documentary, a different brand of power that they’ve only just begun to harness. Fueled by self-confidence, it came courtesy of a good education and compassionate teachers who helped ignite the flame within.

You could say the girls introduced stepping, a form of dance traditional to black culture that uses the body to create sounds and rhythms by stomping and clapping (with the help of Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Amanda Lipitz, who birthed the documentary — and whose own mother founded BLSYW), to mainstream culture. “People used to see our shirts and ask what step is,” recalls Kaila Rice, a 2017 grad of BLSYW. “It’s like, what do you mean? I do this in my sleep. People even ask us to teach them; they actually want to learn. We’re introducing new ideas.” Blessin Giraldo, one of the founding members of the Lethal Ladies and a 2016 graduate, elaborates: “[Seeing everyone’s reactions] to my sisters and I, it feels like we’re changing the world,” before adding with a laugh, “and we still happen to be movie stars.”

Image courtesy of the Estée Lauder Companies

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Lipitz’s conceptual brainchild originally aimed to highlight young women’s empowerment through education, but the documentary also managed to stomp on stereotypes, showing Baltimore in a new light than what’s typically covered by the media. Nush Zweh, a member of the class of 2018, notes how incredible it’s been to see the impact the ladies have had on how the world perceives Baltimore. “You always see the hood, the drugs, the violence everything that’s negative on the news,” she says. “I’m glad we get to be a part of the positive.” That sentiment is not lost on a single Lethal Lady. “[The documentary] is changing people’s lives, [sending a message to those] who don’t have the support that we have, or have the sisterhood, or who haven’t been given these opportunities,” says Shanice Barkley, who will graduate in 2018. “To be a part of that is amazing.”

Image courtesy of the Estée Lauder Companies

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Since the debut of the documentary in select theaters, the young women have enjoyed the perks of Insta-fame, but if there’s anything that BLSYW taught them, it’s to take nothing for granted. “Being a part of a huge movement like Step, it’s given us a platform,” Blessin notes. “All of us take this very seriously, we all have something different to offer.”

First up on the Lethal Ladies’ to-do list? Tackling the lack of diversity and inclusivity that the beauty industry has historically struggled with. “When we look at [ads], we see the same exact women being replicated and they’re always poster-perfect people,” Blessin notes. “We want to see all kinds of women — and men — of all education-levels and different paths appreciated.”

Who better to spread this message than the Lethal Ladies, whose voices are louder now than ever?